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Role Profiles: a drama therapy assessment instrument

Article  in  The Arts in Psychotherapy · December 2003

DOI: 10.1016/S0197-4556(03)00048-0

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 The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161

Role Profiles: a drama therapy assessment instrument

Robert J. Landy, Ph.D., RDT/BCT∗ , Bree Luck, M.A., Erin Conner, M.A.,
Sara McMullian, M.A., RDT/BCT
New York University, Drama Therapy, 35 West 4 Street, New York, NY 10012, USA

Introduction Johnson (1988) developed two versions of the

Diagnostic Role-Playing Test (DRPT). In the DRPT
Role Profiles is a new assessment instrument 1, a subject is given five roles—grandparent, bum,
in drama therapy. Its earliest version was created politician, teacher, lover—and asked to play one
in 1997 by Robert Landy as an extension of his at a time. In the DRPT 2, the subject is given the
work in role theory in drama therapy (see Landy, following directions:
2000). Historically, both psychologists and drama
therapists have developed approaches to clinical I am now going to ask you to do three scenes. After
each one I will ask you some questions . . . Enact
assessment through drama. In a review of the lit-
a scene between three beings in any way that you
erature, Forrester (2000) tells us that psychologists wish. Who or what these three beings are is up to
have used dramatic approaches to assessment since you. Tell me when you are finished.
World War II, when Murray and his colleagues (see
McReynolds & DeVoge, 1977) used role-playing Following each scene the subject reflects upon the
to assess the readiness of soldiers to assume offi- action by responding to the following questions: “Tell
cer status. Forrester well documents the many uses me in as much detail as you can what happened in
of drama-based assessment by non-drama therapy that scene . . . Now, describe the three beings, one at
psychologists, including behaviorists and cognitive a time.” (Johnson, 1988)
psychologists. She also mentions the most significant Like Irwin, Johnson interprets the behavior of
predecessor of drama therapy, J.L. Moreno (1946), the subjects in role, assessing such aspects as: (a)
who developed an early form of psychodramatic spontaneity; (b) ability to transcend reality; (c) role
assessment. repertoire; (d) organization of scenes; (e) patterns in
Within the field of drama therapy, two assess- the dramatic content of scenes; (f) attitude toward
ment instruments have been in use since the 1970s. enactment; (g) style of role-playing.
The first is the Puppetry Interview, developed by Both instruments have been used for research and
Irwin and her colleagues (Irwin, 1985; Irwin, Levy, treatment with a number of subjects and clients, in-
& Shapiro, 1972). Applying a psychoanalytic-free cluding emotionally disturbed children, schizophrenic
association approach, Irwin presents children with a adults and war veterans suffering from post-traumatic
basket of puppets and asks them to tell and/or dra- stress syndrome (see Irwin, 1985; James & Johnson,
matize stories through the puppet figures. Following 1997; Johnson & Quinlan, 1993).
the stories, Irwin helps the children reflect upon their Throughout the 1990s, several other drama ther-
stories and dramatizations. Later she interprets the apy assessments have been developed based in story-
stories from a psychodynamic perspective, in terms telling and storymaking. Israeli drama therapist and
of their content and form. psychologist, Mooli Lahad (1992), created an instru-
ment called six-piece storymaking (6-PSM) to assess
the coping styles of individuals under conditions
∗Corresponding author. of stress and trauma. Through 6-PSM, the subject
E-mail address: [email protected] (R.J. Landy). divides a piece of paper into six parts and draws

0197-4556/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0197-4556(03)00048-0
152 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161

a picture in each part representing the following: a Role Profiles

main character and his/her place of residence; the
mission or task of the character; a person or thing Like TAS, Role Profiles, a second assessment in-
that will help the character fulfill his/her mission; the strument developed by Landy (2001), is grounded in
obstacle that stands in the character’s way; the way role theory. Role theory views human beings in terms
the character deals with the obstacle; the ending or of their behaviors in role. Role is a set of archetypal
continuation of the story. qualities representing one aspect of a person, an as-
After the subject tells the story, based upon the pect that relates to others and when taken together,
drawings, the researcher analyzes the story accord- provides a meaningful and coherent view of self (see
ing to criteria developed by Lahad (1992). Lahad’s Landy, 1993). A human personality, in turn, is essen-
model, BASIC Ph, specifies the following coping tially an amalgamation of the roles a person takes on
styles: and plays out. According to role theory human beings
are motivated to seek balance among their often dis-
B: coping through Beliefs and Values; crepant roles. Implicit here is the notion that humans
A: coping through Affective means; have access to an internal system of roles and that
S: coping through Social relationships; they may call upon those roles as they are needed.
I: coping through Imaginative means; Landy’s role method of drama therapy suggests
C: coping through Cognitive means; that psychological and behavioral change can occur
Ph: coping through Physical means. by increasing the number of roles that a person can
effectively take on and play out, increasing the depth
Gersie (1991, 1997) uses a similar six-part struc- or quality of such roles, and helping the client move
ture to assess a subject’s ability to tell and create sto- more flexibly from one role to another (Meldrum,
ries. Her system and criteria are, however, much more 1994). Furthermore, the optimal state of balance is
open-ended. Gersie asks individuals to either draw or achieved as the client is able to integrate a problematic
tell or enact a story according to the following aspects: role with its counter role by means of a transitional
the landscape, the character, the dwelling place, the guide figure (see Landy, 2001).
obstacle, the helpmate, and the resolution. Following In an effort to specify and name the roles that hu-
the storymaking, Gersie assesses the subject’s resis- mans are capable of playing, Landy (1993) turned to
tances and suggests means to proceed through drama theatre as the source of the most common archety-
therapeutic treatment. pal roles. After completing an exhaustive study of the
Landy (2001) introduced Tell-A-Story (TAS) as- dramatis personae of some 600 plays, ranging from
sessment in 1997 as a means of assessing a subject Greek tragedies to contemporary drama, he discerned
through criteria based in his role method (see Landy, 84 discreet archetypal roles plus many sub-roles for
1993, 2001). The structure of TAS is less structured a total of 146. He organized these roles into a com-
than that of Lahad and Gersie. Subjects are given the prehensive system which he called the Taxonomy of
following directions: Roles.
Originally, the Taxonomy was of conceptual rather
I would like you to tell me a story. The story can than practical value. Its primary use was in reveal-
be based upon something that happened to you or ing the quantity and quality of roles that emerge in
to somebody else in real life or it can be completely
everyday life and in drama therapy, and generally, in
made up. The story must have at least one character.
providing a structure for categorizing different roles.
If the subjects are unable to tell a story verbally, Although critics of the taxonomy argue that it is too
they are encouraged to tell the story through move- rigid to explore the human psyche (see Meldrum,
ment or projective objects such as puppets. Following 1994, Landy, 1994), the Taxonomy does provide a
the storytelling, the subject is asked to respond to a starting point for a diagnostic approach to psycholog-
series of questions designed to assess the subject’s ical functioning through role.
ability to specify the character’s qualities, functions With this in mind, Landy (2001) has worked
and styles of presentation, all aspects explained in toward demonstrating the practical value of the
detail within Landy’s role method and role theory Taxonomy of Roles by developing two assessment
(Landy, 2001). Further, subjects are asked to specify instruments based upon these role types. TAS, men-
the theme of the story, the connection among char- tioned above, is one. The second is Role Profiles.
acters in the story, and the connection between the Role Profiles was originally created in 1997 as a pa-
fictional characters and the subject’s everyday life. per and pencil test. Subjects were given a list of 90
As is the case with all drama therapy assessments, the roles, corresponding to an abbreviated version of the
data gathered through TAS can serve both research 146 roles specified in Landy’s (1993) Taxonomy of
and treatment purposes. Roles. They were asked to rate themselves in terms
 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161 153

of each role on a Likert-type scale. Then they were studies and will include a discussion of the efficacy
asked to choose several prominent roles and to tell a of the instrument. Names and identifying characteris-
story about these characters. tics of the subjects have been changed to protect their
In a number of trials with graduate students from confidentiality.
1997 to 1999, Landy determined that the instrument
was too cumbersome and time-consuming. He re-
moved the section concerning storytelling, which Dakota
became an assessment instrument in its own right,
Tell-A-Story. In 2000, he revised the instrument Dakota is a thirteen-year-old female who lives in
into a card sort, limiting the quantity of roles to 70, North Carolina with her mother. An only child of
based upon feedback from both graduate students divorced parents, Dakota is an eighth-grade honor
and colleagues in drama therapy and related fields. student in a public school. She and her mother at-
Again, he ran trials with graduate and undergraduate tend a Christian church regularly, and Dakota feels
students from a number of different cultures to refine that the church has been a primary influence in her
the instrument. In its current form, the instrument is upbringing.
administered with the following instructions: Dakota was asked by the researcher to take Role
Profiles, and she was eager to complete the assess-
This experience is intended to explore your person-
ment. After the researcher explained the directions
ality as if it were made up characters commonly
found in plays, movies, and stories. You will be
to Dakota, the participant quickly, but thoughtfully,
given a stack of cards. On each card is the name of a categorized the seventy role cards. She held Avenger,
role, which is a type of character you have probably Killer, Bigot, Asexual, and Atheist aside for several
seen in movies and plays or read about in stories. moments as she proceeded with the categorization
Please shuffle the cards thoroughly. Place each card of the other roles. Halfway through the sorting pro-
in one of four groups that best describes how you cess, Dakota asked the researcher whether or not
feel about yourself right now. Each group is labeled she could inquire about the meanings of some of
by a large card which says: I Am This, I Am Not the roles. The researcher told her to try to find her
This, I Am Not Sure If I Am This, and I Want To Be own meanings for the roles, but if she needed a
This. Try to group the cards as quickly as possible.
definition of a term, the researcher would define it
Any questions? When you are ready, begin. Be sure
to place each card in one group only.
for her. Dakota did not know the definitions of four
terms: Avenger, Bigot, Asexual, and Atheist, and the
Although Role Profiles still requires substantial tester provided definitions as objectively as possible.
research to test its validity and reliability, a number of In addition, Dakota thought carefully about a fifth
preliminary studies are underway. This paper presents term, Killer, as she tried to determine whether she
the findings of three researchers, all drama thera- should define the word metaphorically or literally
pists trained by Landy in the administration of Role (Table 1).
Profiles. Each researcher took part in a series of trials When Dakota completed her sorting of the roles,
exploring the efficacy of the 2000 version of Role Pro- the tester asked her to look at her assortment, and to
files. To encompass issues of generalizability, Landy move any roles that seemed out of place. Dakota did
asked the researchers to work with a range of subjects so, and in a moment exclaimed “Oh Duh! There are a
in terms of age and mental status. In two cases, the re- few that I want to move to the I want to be category.”
searchers chose non-clinical subjects, one a teenager, Thereafter, she moved Saint, Wife and Mother from
the other an elderly couple, both with no discernable I am not This into I want to be This. After making
disabilities or mental illness. These subjects, living these adjustments, she expressed her satisfaction with
in different regions of the United States and from dif- the new arrangement.
ferent socio-economic statuses, were recommended The researcher then asked Dakota to see if she
by professional colleagues of the researchers. could find any relationships or connections between
In the third case, that of Darcy, the researcher the roles. Dakota pointed out that many of the family
chose a clinical subject, also recommended by a col- roles, such as Mother, Daughter, Child, Sister, and
league. Darcy was diagnosed with mental illness and Mother, were either a part of her, or who she wanted
substance abuse and attends a rehabilitation facility to be. She explained that family was very important to
where the researcher works. The researcher was not her. She also noticed that Daughter and Orphan were
the subject’s therapist. next to each other, even though they were in different
All subjects volunteered freely and provided in- categories.
formed consent. Each researcher describes her expe- Dakota first noted that these roles were seemingly
riences below administering Role Profiles to the given opposites and that, according to society’s definitions,
subjects. The results are presented as modified case the very reason that she was not the Orphan made her
154 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161

Table 1
Dakota’s role distribution
This is who I am This is who I am not I’m not sure if this is who I am This is who I want to be

Worrier Slave Beauty Sister

Critic Sainta Miser Magician
Child Villain Innocent Saintb
Clown Pessimist Egotist Wifeb
Angry person Simpleton Beast Motherb
Heterosexual Bisexual Judge
Daughter Orphan Avenger
Healer Bully Zombie
Killer Coward Police
Survivor Husband Atheist
Person of faith Conservative Average person
Helper Elder Hero
Sinner Poor person Wise person
Dreamer Outcast Witness
Artist Wifea Rebel
Lover Demon Spiritual leader
Rich person Mothera
Warrior Bigot
Radical Homeless person
Optimist God
Adolescent Sick person
Son
Adult
Lost one
Victim
Suicide
Brother
Homosexual
Asexual
Slave
Father
a Denotes removal of a role card from its original position.
b Denotes a role card’s new place, moved from its original position.

the Daughter. After a brief pause, however, Dakota I live with is really a mother I can relate to and con-
had a deeper explanation of the relationship of the sider myself a part of, as much as I would like to.
two roles. She admitted that, as the daughter of par- This probably has a lot to do with why Sinner is in
ents who divorced when she was three years old, she the I Am column, too.”
often felt lonely. She had only one memory of her par- Dakota went on to discuss the relationship be-
ents living together, and primarily remembered them tween Bully and Coward in her categorization. She
living separately. said that a bully is a coward, proclaiming “Bullies
Despite living with her mother for the majority of protect themselves from the truth about themselves
the time, she felt closer and more similar to her father. by picking on other people. They’re just picking on
“I’ve got the same temper, and I’m more laid back, the things they don’t like in themselves by seeing it
and we have a lot of the same beliefs and interests,” in those people. If they were brave, they’d see it’s
she admitted. “My mom and I are like two total op- themselves they should be making fun of.”
posites. We don’t agree on anything . . . It probably When asked about the I am not This category,
has to do with my age, you know, being a teenager. Dakota quickly pointed out that she felt very discon-
But it goes further than that. She’s so into church and nected from some of the roles. For example, she felt
living sin-free, and I just want to have fun and do the that Homeless Person, God, Sick Person, Asexual,
things I love without worrying about whether or not and Brother did not apply to her. Other roles she had
the church is going to agree. I mean she freaks out categorized as not her felt more important, such as
when I say damn! I guess I feel like an orphan, in a Suicide, Poor Person, Coward, and Bigot. “No mat-
way, sometimes, because I don’t feel like the woman ter how little money I ever have, I’ll never consider
 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161 155

myself a Poor Person. I’m rich in other ways, like in On the other hand, a potential limitation in using
my relationship to my family.” the instrument with adolescents concerns the need to
She also stated that she would never consider sui- provide definitions for the terms. It would be easy for
cide because it is simply another way of being a Cow- the researcher to provide a biased definition of a par-
ard. She was also adamant about not being a Bigot. “I ticular role type, and yet doing so would compromise
don’t want to have others be prejudiced against me, the assessment’s objectivity and reliability. This re-
so why would I be prejudiced about someone else? searcher notes that when assessing younger children
That’s what a Bigot is—prejudiced.” or clients with limited verbal capabilities, it would be
Dakota went on to discuss the I’m not sure column. essential to revise the instrument so that the partici-
Dakota admitted that she was still wondering about pant would be able to understand the meanings of the
some of the roles in that list. She explained that she different roles, without relying on the objectivity of
was still trying to figure out who she was as a person, the tester.
and as she had little experience with some of these
roles, she was not ready to make a firm decision about
whether she was or was not those things. She admitted Darcy
that she felt uncomfortable accepting some roles in a
social situation. Dakota said, “I don’t want to say that Darcy, a Caucasian woman in her mid-forties, was
I’m a Beauty, just like that. That’s big-headed. I think diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as well as
I know I am, but it wouldn’t be polite for me to say it.” borderline personality disorder with antisocial per-
Finally, Dakota examined the I want to be This sonality traits at the time of taking Role Profiles. She
column. The researcher pointed out that Dakota made has a long history of substance abuse, and was a drug
changes early in the discussion by moving roles from runner for many years. Darcy claims that, as a young
I am not This to I want to be This. Dakota explained girl, she was sexually abused by her uncle. Further,
that she simply forgot about the latter category during she acknowledges that she was extremely violent, was
her sorting process. While considering the Sister role, quick to cut others with a knife if they made her mad
Dakota revealed her desire to have a sister with whom or got in her way. She has been imprisoned several
she could talk and share her life. “It would be a lot times, and is now seeking help from an intensive psy-
easier if I had someone who could go through the chiatric rehabilitation treatment program for adults
same things as me,” she said, “so we could talk and who have a co-existing diagnosis of mental illness
she’d understand on a level that a friend or other and substance abuse/dependency.
relative can’t.” Darcy resides with a man she refers to as her
Dakota also explained that she always wanted to husband, although they are not married. Her teenage
have a magical part in her. She claimed she knew that daughter also lives with her. Darcy also has a teenage
she was already a magician, but that it seemed more son, who was raised in the foster care system after
important for her to classify the role as something she was determined to be an unfit mother. This son
that she wanted to be. The Wife and the Mother roles has been involved in the criminal justice system, and
were self-explanatory, according to Dakota. She said he has minimal contact with his mother.
that she knew she would become these roles when As Darcy began sorting the cards (Table 2), she
she was grown. often spoke out loud, but did not direct her speech to-
Dakota had a difficult time discussing the Saint wards the researcher. Rather, the researcher felt that
role, but used the moment to describe her frustra- she was talking to herself in an effort to reinforce
tion with the organization of the church she attended. or remind herself of the roles and their placements.
Nevertheless, she claimed that she still had respect Darcy found an innovative way to sort the cards.
for God and for holy things. This, she explained, was Rather than sorting the cards out in columns, she
why the role of the Saint was something she wanted created her own system of organizing the cards. For
to achieve in life. example, she delineated the I am not This category
(which contained the most cards), by fanning the
Discussion cards out in a semicircle. She placed the rest of the
categories underneath this broad fan.
In many ways, Role Profiles appears to be useful As Darcy proceeded with the sorting process, she
with adolescents who are still experiencing many of was unable to place six cards in any category. There-
the roles and qualities for the first time. The act of fore, she created what she called a new category. Vi-
delineating who one is (or is not) by sorting cards is sually, this category appeared to be a ladder, linking
an apt metaphor for the adolescent who is discovering I am This to I am not sure if I am This. I want to be
her own identity as a human being, and a keen way This held three cards, and was also physically within
to begin the therapeutic journey. the boundaries of I am not This.
156 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161

Table 2
Darcy’s role distribution
This is who I am This is who I am not I’m not sure if this is who I am This is who I want to be

Rebela Child Victim Conservative

Person of faith Orphan Angry personb Wise person
Adult Artist Rebelb
Survivor Zombie Spiritual leader
Average person Coward Bullyb
Beauty Homeless Sinnerc
Daughter Judge Innocentc
Sister Slave Beastc
Helper Clown Dreamerc
Optimist Outcast Wifec
Bullya Demon Motherc
Sinnerc Magician
Innocentc Police
Beastc Bigot
Dreamerc Pessimist
Wifec Hero
Motherc Witness
God
Saint
Warrior
Avenger
Radical
Rich person
Poor person
Homosexual
Egotist
Miser
Sick person
Elder
Asexual
Adolescent
Healer
Angry persona
Atheist
Simpleton
Suicidal person
Killer
Critic
Villain
a Denotes a role card’s new place, moved from its original position.
b Denotes removal of a role card from this placement.
c Denotes a role card placement that straddles two categories.

Once the cards were sorted, Darcy was selective out loud if it meant a good daughter. This made the
and brief in her discussion of the roles. In I am This, researcher wonder about the impact of her childhood
Darcy spoke about a Person of Faith. She referred to abuse. She claimed that the role of the Helper was
the concept of a higher power in the tradition of re- sometimes a problem because, she claimed, “I go over
covery from substances. Darcy claimed that she did the top, and have to learn how and when to speak out
not identify with a particular belief system or faith. or not.” Darcy refused to elaborate any more on the
She defined Adult as being a lady as opposed to a roles or relationships between and among roles in this
woman of the streets. She felt that her ability to sur- category.
vive many years as a gang member was a source of Next, Darcy discussed the new category. When
great strength, and made her a Survivor. She identified asked about her decision to create this category,
her beauty as being from the inside. While she clearly Darcy stated, “When something isn’t there that I
identified with the role of the Daughter, she wondered need, I add it myself and make something new.” She
 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161 157

sees this ability as being very resourceful. Upon fur- ambivalence in the placement of some of the roles,
ther discussion, the category seems to have contained offers the researcher information that can facilitate
roles about which Darcy felt strong ambivalences. the formulation of early treatment interventions and
For example, in discussing the Innocent, Darcy said, approaches.
“My heart is innocent, but my mind is not.” While Moreover, the Role Profile assessment offers a de-
discussing the Beast, she claimed, “Sometimes I scriptive diagnostic picture of the client’s concept of
think the way a beast thinks, but I don’t act on it self, behavior, and functioning that may relate to the
anymore.” traditional Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF).
Further, on discussing the Wife, Darcy explained Indeed, when therapists and counselors are asked to
that she saw the role to be concerned with daily tasks use the GAF in measuring outcomes of treatment,
and functions, such as cooking dinner and cleaning there is often a sense of frustration when the GAF
the house, and claimed that, “Sometimes I am a good numbers do not shift in a way that reflects the changes
wife, and sometimes I am not.” She also noted that that have taken place in therapy. It is possible that
she was a Mother because she has two children, but if given as a pre- and post-test, Role Profiles could
she also has a son whom she did not raise, and who be more illustrative of growth and outcome than the
harbors substantial anger towards her. She went on GAF for clients in day treatment, psychiatric rehabil-
to discuss her son’s feelings, but declined to speak itation, outpatient care, or other community settings.
of her own feelings about her son, or the role of the The profile could continue to be given at different
Mother. stages of treatment, so that the facilitator could eval-
When Darcy moved on to discuss I am not This, uate the shifts, changes, and consistencies in the card
she briefly identified five roles: The Lost One, Child, sort and discussion.
Orphan, Coward and Zombie. She said, “I am not In effect, Role Profiles offers rich opportunities for
lost. I am not a child anymore. I am not an orphan or drama therapists to develop treatment plans, to eval-
coward, and now that I’m in recovery, I am NOT a uate and assess levels of functioning, and to develop
Zombie.” Although she withheld comment on any of outcome measures for clients. It will be both neces-
the other cards in this category, she did observe that sary and critical for drama therapists to work toward
she had a large number of cards in this realm, and felt the development of these tools, furthering the efficacy
good about this, as she identified letting go of these of their work in the clinical arena.
roles as a part of her recovery process.
Darcy offered no comments about the two roles in
the I am Not Sure category, but moved on to discuss Anne and Rex
the three roles in I want to be This. She defined the
Lover not as a sexual role, but as someone who is Anne and Rex are a married couple who reside in
capable of being tender and empathic. The role of the a resort town in Southern Florida. Anne, who is 76, is
Conservative, she said, meant someone who lives like a working homemaker and industrial film producer,
a normal person. In addition, Darcy wanted to be a and is very active in the community. She is currently
wise person because she wanted to have knowledge taking medication for what she describes as a lifelong
and insight. battle against migraines and depression. Her husband,
Rex, is an 81-year-old entrepreneur who works every
Discussion day and golfs regularly. He has no history of mental
illness, but voices concern over his recent heart attack,
Upon examining the choices of roles, as well as which he had two months before taking Role Profiles.
the visual picture that Darcy created in the sorting Anne and Rex have been married for 55 years, and
process, it is clear that Role Profiles offers rich oppor- have never before sought marriage counseling. Both
tunities to better understand behaviors and character claim to be content with their relationship, although
traits which relate to the client’s diagnosis. In partic- Anne admits that there have been some difficult times.
ular, the researcher could examine the way that the Anne and Rex both volunteered to participate in a re-
client defines certain roles, to gain some insight into search project about personality by taking Role Pro-
her development. For example, in this case, Darcy’s files. Their cases have been outlined here because of
concept of family and social roles are clearly in the their ages as well as the implications the instrument
imitative stage, reflective of her phase of recovery. At might have for couples therapy (Table 3).
present, she follows the rules, does what is expected One of the first things that this researcher noticed
within the therapeutic model, but is not yet able to when comparing the ways that Anne and Rex sorted
internalize these roles or behaviors for herself. the cards, was that differences emerged simply in the
In addition, her clear issues with boundaries, the style of sorting. Anne meticulously and slowly sorted
struggle to control her violent tendencies, and her through the cards, commenting on each role as she
158 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161

Table 3
Ann’s role distribution
This is who I am This is who I am not I’m not sure if this is who I am This is who I want to be

Helper Bigot Rich persona God

Rebel Father Avenger Magician
Conservative Clown Judge Witness
Wife Victim Critic Healer
Mother Pessimist Egotist Visionary
Adult Killer Slave Spiritual leader
Survivor Son Warrior Wise person
Sister Heterosexual Beauty
Average person Atheist Elder
Daughter Homosexual
Child Innocent
Lover Worrier
Adolescent Asexual
Dreamer Miser
Optimist Artist
Person of faith Hero
Sinner Radical
Rich personb Lost one
Beast
Outcast
Bisexual
Angry person
Bully
Coward
Police
Suicide
Poor person
Brother
Demon
Homeless person
Simpleton
Villain
Zombie
Husband
Orphan
Saint
Sick person
a Denotes removal of a role card from its original position.
b Denotes a role card’s new place, moved from its original position.

placed it in a category, and she made sure to fan out the Rex, 41), followed by I am This (Anne, 18; Rex, 29).
cards into discreet columns so that she could see each During her reflection, Anne noted this by saying, “I
role clearly. After sorting all of the cards, she named have a big stack of what I am not. I don’t seem too
the roles in each stack, and only during this process unsure of myself.”
did she change the placement of some of the cards. Similarly, Rex commented, “When I look at this,
Rex, on the other hand, sorted through the cards I would say that I’ve been pretty successful. This is
(Table 4) quickly, never commenting on the roles. who I am and who I am not.”
Only once did he look up to address the researcher to In addition, Rex had no roles in I want to be This.
clarify the meaning of a role (Heterosexual). Unlike According to him, this had to do with age. “I know
Anne, he stacked his cards on top of each other, so who I am. At my age, I better. And maybe that’s why
that only one role was visible in each category. I don’t want to be anything. Because if I haven’t done
Anne and Rex both had similar distributions of it by now, then what’s the point?”
roles in the different categories. Both Anne and Rex Likewise, Anne commented on the paucity of roles
had most of their cards in I am not This (Anne, 36; in the same category by saying, “I don’t desire to be
 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161 159

Table 4
Rex’s role distribution
This is who I am This is who I am not I’m not sure if this is who I am This is who I want to be

Rich person Radical Conservativea No cardsa

Helper Bigot Wifea
Rebel Hero Mothera
Adult Artist Daughtera
Misera Asexual Beauty
Heterosexual Worrier
Pessimista Innocent
Victim Homosexual
Clown Atheist
Father Killer
Survivor Police
Husband Coward
Brother Bully
Lover Angry person
Sinner Bisexual
Person of faith Outcast
Witness Beast
Visionary Average person
Spiritual leader Saint
Healer Orphan
Optimist Zombie
Son Villain
Warrior Simpleton
Dreamer Homeless person
Critic Demon
Judge Sick person
Avenger Child
Elder Adolescent
Wise person God
Magician
Egotist
Pessimistb
Miserb
Slave
Suicide
Poor person
Daughterb
Sister
Motherb
Wifeb
Conservativeb
Lost one
a Denotes removal of a role card from its original position.
b Denotes a role card’s new place, moved from its original position.

a lot of things, but as I get older, I do think that I’d longitudinal study involving Role Profiles may pro-
like to be more of these few things.” vide more insight into the common patterns of role
distribution.
Discussion The differences in the style of dispersing the cards
may reflect personality traits that could give the re-
The researcher found these similar distributions searcher insight into the client’s personality. Further
remarkable, and suggests that future trials with Role research involving Role Profiles may investigate the
Profiles examine the way role distributions shift over way different styles of card dispersion are correlated
a lifespan. Perhaps what is a healthy distribution at 13 with different personality traits, psychological disor-
is very different from a healthy distribution at 80. A ders, gender, or cultural values.
160 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161

Another issue that arose in this case involved se- the therapist could use this information to understand
mantic ambiguity of roles. Anne and Rex had similar what strengths and weaknesses the couple may have
difficulties understanding the meanings of some of in everyday life by looking at the individual’s under-
the roles. For example, Anne clearly misunderstood standing of the roles, as well as the relationships be-
the meaning of Heterosexual. When this long-married tween and among roles.
woman placed the card in I am not This, she said, Further, the therapist could use Role Profiles as a
with conviction, “Well, I’m certainly NOT this.” springboard for therapeutic interventions by pointing
In an analogous fashion, Rex asked of Heterosex- out key similarities or differences. For instance, this
ual, “Does this mean I like guys or women?” before researcher might have noted to the subjects that they
he would commit the role to an appropriate category. both had most of their cards in the same two stacks,
In his reflection, Rex also asked for clarifications of and this might have led into a discussion relating the
homosexual, asexual and bisexual. cards in the stacks to each other. Role Profiles could be
These misunderstandings could be explained in useful for drama therapists and other psychotherapists
two different ways. First, they indicate the potential as a way to begin the therapeutic process.
for semantic limitations, or a cultural or age-related
bias. Practitioners should be aware of these potential
limitations when giving the instrument, and should be Conclusions
especially sensitive to people who may have limited
vocabularies. This article attempts to move the debate in the field
On the other hand, the semantic ambiguity can also of drama therapy forward from description of tech-
be advantageous in the evaluation of couples because nique and theory to clinical applications of practices
it allows the researcher to see how the individuals in and concepts. The focus on assessment falls within
a couple deal with similar verbal stimuli. In this case, a developing tradition of role-playing in general psy-
for instance, Anne and Rex have similar misunder- chology and specific role-based approaches in drama
standings of words. Just as they have misunderstand- therapy. Practitioners of Role Profiles, like those who
ings, though, so too do Anne and Rex comprehend practice its predecessors such as the Puppetry Inter-
roles similarly. Two examples of this are their inter- view, the Diagnostic Role-Playing Test and 6-PSM,
pretations of the roles, Rich and Beauty. Anne com- seek to examine the present functioning of clients by
mented in her reflection, “Rex always says that we surveying their abilities to take on and play out vari-
are rich, and I guess we are because he’s made some ous roles. Role Profiles is unique in that it looks to role
money, but I think we are rich because of love.” theory (Landy, 1993, 2001) to explain the kinds of
Rex, in his discussion, held a similar view. roles individuals chose and the ways they view them-
“There’s nothing more important than family,” he selves in terms of the roles chosen and denied. Such
noted, “the one you’re born into and the one you drama therapy assessment is helpful to researchers
make. That’s why we’re rich. It’s not the money.” and clinicians who can use the data to map treatment
Anne and Rex both verbally acknowledged that strategies and to hypothesize on the quantity and qual-
they could interpret Rich in two different ways, and ity of roles essential for given individuals to fashion
both committed to the same interpretation of the role. an effective existence.
Similarly, Anne and Rex both interpreted Beauty as As we have seen, Role Profiles can be adminis-
physical beauty. Anne noted, “I’m no Catherine Zeta tered to a range of individuals—adolescents, adults
Jones, but I’d sure like to be a beauty like her.” and elders, normal-neurotic and mentally ill. Further
Rex claimed, “I’m not sure if I’m a Beauty. Maybe studies would give the instrument more credence,
I am. I don’t think of myself that way. People say moving into a wider range of populations and a larger
I look good for my age, but I don’t like close-up sample of subjects. If Role Profiles were tested with a
pictures too much.” large group of participants using a quasi-experimental
Role Profiles thus allows the researcher to see how design, the reliability and validity of the assessment
closely individuals in a couple match in their under- technique could be examined. The large issue of the
standing of different roles. This may give the practi- universality of the role types versus the subjective se-
tioner clues into the couple’s communication styles. mantic ambiguities faced by specific subjects could
One of the advantages of using Role Profiles with also be explored.
couples is that it gives the researcher/therapist the op- Like other dramatic-based instruments, Role Pro-
portunity to compare many components of the client’s files offers a way to access the present functioning of
personality in one pass. Here alone, the researcher individuals and groups in terms of their perceptions
was able to examine not only the different styles of of themselves in and out of role. Role Profiles is more
sorting roles, but also the content of the roles, reflec- reflective and internal and less action-oriented than
tive of the clients’ world views. In couples therapy, DRPT, the Puppetry Interview, 6-PSM and similar
 R.J. Landy et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 30 (2003) 151–161 161

improvisational assessment instruments. However, Johnson, D. R., & Quinlan, D. (1993). Can the
like other dramatic assessments, it seeks to make mental representations of paranoid schizophrenics be
sense of a similar process—that of the presentation differentiated from those of normals? Journal of
of self through role. Personality Assessment, 60, 588–601.
Lahad, M. (1992). Storymaking: An assessment method of
coping with stress. In S. Jennings (Ed.), Dramatherapy,
theory and practice 2. London: Routledge.
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